old enemy, new problem
by babyliss12
Summary: when an old enemy comes back the team must peice togther the puzzle to save their newest member from the same fate as dom. Whole team no pairngs well maybe eric/nell but only a little bit
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone. I know it has been a wait since my last story but most of the time has been coming up with a new story and then planning it. So to anybody that is reading this, here is my new story. This takes place in early season 2. I don't think that anybody else has done a story like this which is why I hope you like it. Oh and by the way, I don't really like the whole deeks is just a simple surfer boy stories but that is needed for this chapter a little bit.**

**Disclaimer- I own nothing. If I did deeks would be in trouble a lot more often.**

_Why does deeks have to be so laid back. He works with agents after all and we look after this county, can't deeks be a bit more serious. _ As if to answer the question that Sam never said, deeks sat down at his desk and started filling up his coffee with ten tonnes of sugar that would just make him more irritable. Deeks and loads of sugar don't mix.

"Deeks, stop with the sugar, we both know what you get like when you have too much sugar" Deeks looked up with a surprised expression.

"Come on man, every since Hetty changed the coffee machine the coffee needs this amount of sugar just to make it drinkable."

"Fine just don't come crying to me when kensi makes you walk to the next crime scene" Sam somehow knew that deeks was going to do something stupid next and he hoped that callen and kensi got here before that happened. Sure enough deeks tripped over the corner of the rug and the coffee flew out the cup and all over Sam's desk.

"Deeks you idiot, you couldn't watch where you were going for once" sam yelled, jumping up.

"Hey chill sam, I'm sorry. I think you should try salt on that stain. Or do you salt for wine stains or other stains"

Sam watched as deeks went into what Sam called _thinking deeks mode. _This did not come out that often and it was kind of concerning because deeks wasn't really one for thinking. Hell most of the time he wandered round wondering if he was going to get to go surfing after work. Sam looked back at deeks who was standing there chewing on his lip with his forehead creased in thought.

"Deeks, what am I meant to do about my shirt and the paperwork you just ruined."

Deeks jumped when sam yelled at him a second time bringing him out from his thoughts and decided to answer a bit more smartly to avoid getting in to a fight with sam. "Well ok, you could go and ask Hetty if you could borrow a shirt from her dress up area and I can do some of your paperwork because I've got nothing to do"

Sam looked at deeks. He had actually said something smart but the advice was not that good. "I can't go to Hetty because if we get a case then I will ruin one of her shirts and she will kill me and the paperwork has to be done by be because it's above your level of clearance and it's my paperwork"

Deeks was getting worried now, sam was in a bad mood and everything he was doing seemed to be irritating him further. _Maybe I should just go to see Eric or go to the shooting range because if I wait for callen and kensi to show up sam could kill me._ Sam's expression was getting more and more aggravated and that made the decision for deeks. _Time to run. _ Just as deeks turned to leave he heard kensi and callen talking about birthdays.

"Do you remember the year Hetty said that she didn't want anything and we got her that tea set but then she made us taste test every different variety she made" kensi said laughing at the memory

"This year if Hetty says she doesn't want anything then we are not going to get her anything" callen told her, also laughing at the memory.

"Hey whose birthday is next, is it Sam's?"

"Yeah I think so kens but leave that birthday to me"

"Really callen last year you brought him a new toaster" kensi started laughing again at the memory of Sam opening his present and getting a toaster and then callen giving him some bread and asking Sam to make him a snack.

"Hey he needed a toaster" callen shot back.

They both got to their desks and callen handed sam a coffee and an apple while kensi looked around for deeks, while putting a coffee on his desk. "Sam where's deeks and what happened to you shirt and desk"

"Deeks tripped and spilt his coffee and I don't know where he went but I think I should apologize when he comes back I kind of yelled at him a bit when it wasn't really his fault"

Unknown to Sam Deeks had snuck up behind sam and heard every word. "Apology accepted and I got you a new shirt"

Sam spun he find deeks standing there holding a shirt that could have only come from Hetty. "Hetty said that she's going to need it back"

"Thanks deeks"

"Awwww look at them kens isn't it adorable"

A short shrill whistle interrupted their conversation as they looked up and saw Eric. "We got a case guys"

When they get to the control room Hetty is waiting and Eric starts to explain the case. "Petty officer Richard Moore was found this morning in an ally outside of Joey's pizza. His body was found by a worker who was putting out the garbage. He had been beaten pretty badly and died from blood loss. He had multiple stab wounds all over his chest."

"Eric was he working on anything important?"

"That Mr Callen is what you are going to find out. I want you and Mr hanna to go and talk to his commanding officer. Oh and Mr Hanna the shirt is a loan and don't get blood on it or I'll send you the bill."

"Miss Blye and Mr Deeks I want you to go to the crime scene and see what you can find."

….xoxoxoxo…xoxxoxooox…oxxoxoxoox….xoxoxoxoox…oxoxox...xoxoxoxox...xoxoxoxoxo...xoxoxoxoxox...xoxooxox...xoxoxo...xoxoxo

"Deeks will you stop changing the radio station already" After the fourth time deeks had changed it kensi was beginning to lose her temper.

"Sorry kensi but I'm trying to find the right station so I can listen to the weather and see is there are any good swells coming in" Deeks finally found the weather channel just in time. _"For all you surfers out there it's going to be a good weekend for you. __SUNDAY - NW wind swell bumps up a bit, as weak SSW swell eases, for small scale surf in the knee-waist high zone. Best exposures/combo breaks see more of the waist high waves. For the best waves, go to the _Hermosa Beach Pier.

All of that made no sense to kensi, as they pulled up at the scene, but it was obviously good seeing as deeks let out a happy sigh.

"I wonder how long this will take because the surf has been pretty disappointing lately and I'd love to catch some waves."

"Deeks we need to focus on the job and can you take this seriously for once."

"Hey all I said is that I wanted to go surfing"

"That's all you say. Sometimes I wish that I have a partner who actually took the job seriously"

As kensi glanced over at deeks she saw him open his mouth but then close it as if thinking twice about saying anymore.

As they examined the crime scene, deeks couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched but he pushed it to the back of his mind and looked around him. He wanted to show to kensi that he took the job seriously and he wanted to find a clue to help them solve this murder. As he turned away from the spot he'd been looking at he caught a glimpse of something silver reflecting in the sun. He bent down to pick it up and saw that it was a bullet casing.

"Hey kensi look what I found" deeks called out in a singsong like voice.

"Huh he must have shot at his attackers but there was no gun found."

"They must have taken it with them"

"Yeah, let's get outta here and go back to OPS"

Before deeks got in the car he looked round, the feeling of being watched had come back but he couldn't see any one.

"Hey deeks are you ok?"

"Yeah it just feels like we're being watched"

"Oh I always feel like that when investigating a murder. It always feels like the murderer is watching you" Kensi quickly dismissed deeks' feeling and started the car.

Deeks took one last look around before getting in.

_Little did he know that across the road a man had been watching them from the shadows. As the man walked away he pulled out a phone. "Are you watching the other two…good meet me back there….they'll know soon enough and then we can grab him" putting the phone away he walked further into the shadows and spoke softly to himself. "Don't worry kensi, you will get a partner that takes the job seriously soon but first I need to get rid of that detective."_

….xoxoxoxo…xoxoxoxo…oxoxox…oxoxox…oxooxo….oxxox...xoxoxoxoxox...xoxoxooxox...xoxoxoox...xoxooxoxox...ooxxoxoxo...oxox

That's it for the first chapter. The second should be up soon. All reviews are welcome; I really want to make my stories good so any comments will be taken into consideration.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Hello everyone. I've changed the story. If you have read the authors note then you would have come back and re read this. The changes start after what was the part where sam yelled at deeks but has been changed.**

"Well it looks like he was planning on going somewhere Sam. His suitcase is packed and on the coffee table I've got two plane tickets to Russia."

"Who's the name on the other plane ticket?"

"It says it's Rebecca Lane and the plane time is in four hours but without her ticket she can't go anywhere so she might come here to pick it up or Moore was going to pick her up"

Sam walked through to the bedroom while callen called Eric to get him to run Rebecca through the system. The bedroom was a complete opposite to the rest of the apartment. All the other rooms were clean and tidy but the bedroom was messy. There was also a large amount of blood on the floor and drag marks that lead out the front door and down to the street. This was defiantly the place where Moore was first attacked but there was not enough blood for him to have died here.

The forensic team was dusting the place for prints and so at the moment there was nothing that they could do.

"Hey sam, Eric got a match on Rebecca. She is a retired army doctor who is now a vet." Callen picked up a picture and looked at Officer Moore with a girl that was obviously Rebecca. "And by the looks of it they were dating"

"Let's go talk to her, maybe she knows of anyone who would be angry with Moore or if he had any enemies."

As they left the apartment and headed to Sam's challenger, callen called kensi to see what they had got from the crime scene. After learning that Kensi and Deeks were closer to where Rebecca worked, Callen asked the two of them to go and talk to her and then meet them back at Osp.

_As the two of them are leaving they are unaware that they are being watched. As the man watches them get into the car and drive away, he gets out his phone and makes a call. "Yeah boss, they're leaving…..going back to their office I think…no they don't know I'm here…got it I'll be there in 20. He hangs up gets into a car across the road and drives away._

…_xoxoxoxoxoxo….oxoxoxoxoxox…xoxoxo….oxoxoxoxoxox…_

After dropping off the bullet casing, so it could be dusted for prints and analysed, Kensi and deeks headed towards the veterinary college where Rebecca taught.

Kensi glanced over at deeks who had been quiet the whole ride over here and she was beginning to get worried.

"Deeks what's wrong? You've hardly said one word to me since we left the crime scene."

Deeks looked at her, his forehead was creased in thought and his eyes looked far away.

"It's nothing; I just can't shake this feeling I've had since we left the crime scene"

"What the feeling that someone has been watching us? I don't know deeks, I do trust your instincts but there was no one around that looks suspicious"

Kensi looked over at Deeks and saw that he was knew chewing his lip and his expression was very thoughtful. _Maybe I should just leave him to think whatever it is through so his head will be clear when talking to Rebecca Lane. _

_Why can't I shake this feeling? I know that there was no one at the crime scene and kensi doesn't feel worried so why should I? Ok this I getting ridiculous you need to focus on this case so that we can solve the murder and you can go surfing and clear your head. There was nothing like the feeling of being one with a wave as you felt the power of the ocean beneath you. Then stopping when the sun went down, that sunset was great to watch after a hard case or day. That's what I need; I just need space to clear my head. I haven't had a day off in ages because if I'm not working with NCIS then LAPD have got me on some stupid undercover work when the informant's information hasn't paid off and I'm left sitting in a bar for hours waiting. Ok deeks focus now, it's time to go and interview the girlfriend. _

Deeks brought his thoughts back to the present situation when he realised that kensi had stopped the car and they were there.

After getting directions to the classroom where Rebecca was teaching they walked there quickly and soon deeks was supporting a crying woman as they told her that her fiancé was not coming home.

"I don't understand" she sobbed "why would someone want to hurt Richard?"

"We don't know yet but we will find out what happened. Now if you're feeling up to it would you be able to answer some questions for us?" deeks asked gently because he did not want to overwhelm her.

"If it will help find the bastard that did this, I will tell you anything that you need to know" The spark that obviously came from working in the army showed up. Kensi was used to it, when army people were told that someone they loved was not coming home they would do anything to help find out why. They were a close group of people just like a team of agents were. You work with people every day for a long time and you'll do anything you can to find out who hurt them.

"Ok, can you tell us why you were planning on going to Russia?" deeks started.

"We were just going there for a break and to celebrate the engagement and before you ask I can only think of one person that didn't like Richard. Jake Bick had borrowed money of him and never paid it back, when Richard went to confront him about it they got into a fight and Jake was given a suspension but I don't think that he would want to kill him over it. I mean he got to keep his job"

"Ok thank you for your help, if you can think of anything else give us a call and once again we're very sorry for your lose"

"Thank you detective Deeks and can you call me if you find the person that did this."

"Of course, goodbye now."

As the two of them left, they considered the different options about why he could have been killed and by whom. As they reached the car deeks got the feeling of being watched again but it was too crowded to see any looking at him because of all the people changing lessons and walking around.

Shaking off the feeling, he sighed and got in the car, putting the feeling down to paranoia.

….xoxoxoxoxox…..xoxoxoxoxo…..xoxoxox….xoxoxoxo…xoxoxox…

Back in the control room, Eric had just finished telling callen and sam the results of the tests done on the bullet casing found at the scene and the fingerprint they had got as well, when Kensi and Deeks came in he told them the same thing.

"The bullet casing linked back to a gun used in a bank robbery four months ago in Washington. The fingerprint linked back to a Jake Bick and he has a licence for a gun which is a 9mm and that would, match the size of the bullet casing found at the scene. That wasn't the only fingerprint that was found the scene though. The other print matched back to James Paterson. Bick and Paterson are cousins."

Eric let that bit of information sink in, while Sam paced around the room and Callen just stood and stared are the monitor. Kensi's face showed disbelief and Deeks just looked confused at why the others were reacting like this. Hetty tuned to deeks and decided to fill him in on this.

"Mr Deeks, I'm sure you are wondering who this man is and the answer is that he was kensi's partner when this team was first put together. After an operation following a Russian mob that always seemed to get away we managed to catch them, we discovered that Mr Paterson was their inside man. He was always supplying them with the information that they needed to evade our capture. He was sent to prison but he said that he was never done with the team and that "if he couldn't be kensi's partner then no one could"

_Flashback_

"_Kensi are you ready"_

"_I'm good Sam. Are you and Callen in position?"_

"_Yep we're good kensi but Eric still hasn't been able to reach James, we're going to have to do this without him"_

"_Understood, ready to breach in 3...2…1 go"_

_They all headed into the warehouse where the Russians were. They had been over thermal imaging that showed that the right amount of people were defiantly in there. Finally after 2 months of tracking they were going to be able to bring them in. Rounding the corner kensi saw something that she was not expecting. James stood next to a Russian and he was giving them a little memory stick but kensi didn't doubt that it could hold all sorts of national secrets. _

"_step away from the briefcase and put your hands on your head" Kensi never looked at Paterson but it was the sound of gunshots coming from the other side of the warehouse that seemed to make Paterson jump into action. He jumped at kensi and knocked her behind several containers just as bullets pieced the ground right where she had just been standing. With one swift movement he had grabbed a set of handcuffs and handcuffed her to the handle of a container._

"_Please kensi stay here" he turned to run away but kensi lifted her gun and aimed at him._

"_I can't let you go, now put your hands on your head and turn around." Ignoring her he turned and knocked the gun from her hand and picked it up. The gunfire from around the warehouse had stopped and Paterson swore before turning and running towards the door._

"_Sam, Callen, a suspect is leaving the warehouse on the south side out the west door. He's heading towards the car park. It's Paterson he's armed and working with the Russians" kensi spoke quickly into her comms unit while also trying to get the keys to her handcuffs._

_Sam and callen were checking the bodies from the front of the warehouse when they heard kensi._

_They started running before she had finished the message but they both faltered when they heard it was Paterson. It only lasted a second before they were both running at full speed towards the car park. When they got there, they saw Paterson getting into a car. Swiftly callen and sam fired at the car's tires before it could get far away. When they reached the car Paterson got out but when sam tried to grab him he swung a punch at sam and pistol whipped him round the head, making him fall to the ground limp. Callen didn't hesitate, he fired at Paterson but making sure to hit him so it would be non fatal. After making sure that Paterson could not get away or harm them, callen moved to check on sam who was coming round. Standing up they both walked back over to where Paterson was._

"_How much was it worth? How much was it worth to sell out your country? How much was it worth to almost see your team, your friends, die?"Callen practically spat at him._

"_It was worth more than you will ever see in your lifetime. I never wanted you lot to get hurt though. That's why I pushed kensi out of the way back there. That's what partners do they look after each other, right kensi"_

_Neither sam nor callen had noticed kensi silently come up behind them._

"_You're not my partner anymore."_

"_If I can't be your partner then no one can. Any other partners you get. I will get rid of." He yelled this last bit at them as he was taken away._

Back to present time.

Hetty watched Mr Deeks' face as he took all of the information in. The rest of her team seemed to have gotten over the shock and were already questioning Eric.

"Eric find out when and how he got out of prison"

"Find a list of all known aliases and properties that they own"

"Eric find out what he connection to Officer Moore."

Eric looked overwhelmed and Hetty chose that time to step in and get her team to give Mr. Beale some space to work.

"Mr Beale if you would be so kind to find out all you can on our James Paterson"

"Sure Hetty" After a minute or so of Eric quietly working he came up with some information.

"Ok according to this he got out of prison 5 months ago. He was given parole but broke it and went on the run. Authorities found him again during a drugs bust in Mexico. He managed to get away and he hasn't been seen since." Eric paused letting them take that in before continuing "at the house where the drugs bust took place the Mexican police found, and this is quoting the report _we found many pictures of a man both on his own and with friends. We also found a memory stick with lots of files on this man and what looked like the team of people he works with. We will try to find out who he is and his connection _I managed to get hold of the memory stick and it's just uploading now."

As if to prove what Eric said his tablet beeped letting him know that it was done loading. Bringing the file up on the big screen and clicked on to it. None of the team were prepared for what they saw. It was photo after photo of Dom. Some of the pictures had them in it and some were just him. A few of them were obviously taken after he was kidnapped because of the way he looked.

Eric broke the silence "there's more, there's some other files as well." Eric clicked on to the right link and opened up a word document. It had addresses and bank accounts listed along with names. Next to one name there was an arrow going to another link. When Eric clicked on the link, it came up with a file on the man. The team recognised it all at the same time. It was the name of the man that they had found to had been behind Dom's kidnapping.

After they had looked at all of the files, Callen, Sam and Kensi were all quiet. Their faces showed that they were deep in thought but it was deeks that said it out loud.

"Paterson must have been behind Dom's kidnapping. He must have kidnapped Dom and then sold him on to Rickalsvirch*"

"Yes Mr Deeks I agree" Hetty knew that her agents were taking this hard but none of them seemed worried but very angry. _I don't think that my agents are in danger but I think I should keep a close eye on Mr Deeks as he is kensi's partner and if Paterson is in town and did kill Officer Moore then they should all be weary._

"Well guys, I think we should get Dom's kidnapping case and murder case back out because it may help us find out why Paterson and his cousin killed Officer Moore. I mean maybe Paterson just got angry at the fact that Moore got his cousin suspended and that made him kill him. If that is the case then it's always good to have a ex-agent in the family as they know how to kill slowly and painfully, that is if every agent is like you guys" Deeks was just trying to lighten the mood but buy the look on Sam's face it hadn't worked.

"Deeks for god's sake will you stop joking for 5 minutes! This is Dom we are talking about and if Paterson had kidnapped him then we need to focus on finding him and making him pay. I know you're not a proper agent but you work with us and that means you should act like an agent too. You need time off, you've been too distracted lately and we all need to focus on this job. Maybe you should just leave and let us handle this one."

Silence followed after Sam had said that. Hetty turned to Deeks knowing that she needed him on board for them to solve this as she needed eyes that were not blinded by their past history with the people on this case but what she saw was Mr deeks' back as he left, calling over his shoulder as he did so.

"Hetty Sam's right, I'm letting some…personal stuff get in the way here. I think it's best if I let you guys handle this case." With that he was gone.

Hetty tuned back to her agents. "I want Ms Blye to go and find Mr Deeks because I have a feeling that something bad will happen and I want you Mr Hanna and Mr Callen to continue working the case"

Kensi nodded and left after her partner.

Looking briefly over what they knew Callen spotted something that should have been obvious to them from the start. "Hetty I think I know where we can find Paterson. If I'm right he would be going after Deeks because he is Kensi's partner." Looking at his partner, Callen saw worry in Sam's eyes but also guilt.

"Go and find him Mr Callen and bring him back here so we can make him safe."

It was the tone of voice that Hetty used that made sam and Callen start moving in to action.

"Eric can you trace Deeks' phone and send the coordinates to my phone"

"On it callen" Nell was the one who answered, while Eric started a kaleidoscope search for Paterson.

Walking down to the car park, they saw Kensi running towards them.

"Deeks took off in his car. He could be going anywhere."

"Ok kensi, you take your car and go to his apartment. Call us when you get there. Sam you go to the beach where Deeks normally goes, I think he said it was the Hermosa Beach again call when you get there."

"Ok Callen but what are going to do"

"I'm going to stay here and keep looking for Paterson. If we're right then Paterson will be following Deeks"

"Okay G, keep us updated"

Both Sam and Kensi got in their cars and drove off as fast as they could in opposite directions. Both were rushing to get to deeks before Paterson did.

Watching them go Callen's face showed nothing, before he turned and run back inside knowing time was of the essence.

…xoxoxoxo…xoxoxoxoxo…xoxxoxoxoxo…xoxoxoxo…..xoxoxox….xoxoxxoxo…..

Outside Deeks walked quickly to his car, he knew exactly where he was going. His mind kept replaying what sam had said and it was true. He hadn't been focused enough over the last couple of weeks but he couldn't help it. His attitude to his work had always been professional, but he knew his laid back attitude bothered people sometimes but he had been acting like that for so long he knew that it would be hard to shake. Over the years he had managed to block out the memories of his bad childhood moments, which was most of his childhood. His only good memories were of him and his mum after his dad had gone to prison.

Sitting in his car for a moment longer, Deeks let out a heavy sigh before reversing out of his space and heading for the freeway and then the beach. What he didn't know was the fact that he was being watched again but with his other conflicting emotions he hadn't picked up on the feeling this time.

_The man watched deeks head out of the car park. What ever happened in there was very good for his plan and soon it would all be over and he would be another step closer to being Kensi's partner again. He just couldn't believe that they had let her current partner out on his own; they must remember what he told them. Well they would remember soon enough when they found this shaggy haired detective gone. _

**Well what did you think? * this meant that unfortunately I did not know if they ever named the person that took Dom and I would watch the episodes but my favourite website has cancelled my membership and it will take awhile for that to get sorted out. Sorry to anyone that wanted proper facts but Dom's actual kidnapping will not feature heavily in the story so there should not be to many problems. **

**Until next time (which won't be long)**

**Ok just to add, how did you like the changes? I hope they made the story a bit better as the team would realise that deeks was in trouble and done something about it. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Walking down towards her office anyone who saw Hetty could tell that she was not to be messed with right now, she gave off the air of someone who wanted something done soon and she didn't care how it happened. One of her team members was in trouble and it was all because of a psychopathic ex-agent who thought that he had a claim to be Ms Blye's partner. Hetty was also concerned because Mr Deeks said that he had personal problems going on and that was why he was not focused recently, so it was time to call around and see what she could find about Mr Deeks.

Back in the control room, Callen paced anxiously. The GPS in Deeks' phone was telling them that he was at the Hermosa Beach which was where Sam was headed but the worrying thing was that the signal hadn't moved for 1 hour and he wasn't answering his phone. Sam had just called saying he was five minutes away and kensi was ten. He would be on his way as well but he was still staying to see if they got any hits for Paterson. Sam and kensi could handle Deeks, and if Paterson turned up well they were already pissed from learning the Paterson was involved in Dom's death.

"Callen the computer will tell us when we get a hit, you should head over to the beach" Eric knew that callen wanted to be there but he also wanted to be here in case they got a hit on where Paterson is.

"Okay Eric, but keep us updated. If you know something new, then I want to know, okay?

"Okay callen now go" Even though she had only been working here a short amount of time, Nell knew that this team looks after its own. Grinning at Nell he walked out of the room, heading down towards where the van, which he and sam sometimes used on stake outs, was kept.

Reaching the van, Callen's phone rang. Seeing that it was sam he answered straight away knowing that the news will either be good or bad.

"Sam, what have you got?"

"I've got eyes on deeks and he looks fine but that doesn't mean that Paterson isn't watching him. I don't see anyone but he could be anywhere."

"Okay Sam, get Deeks back here as fast as you can."

"On it G can you….G deeks is being attacked I have to go."

"Sam, just hang on kensi's on her way and I'm coming" Callen heard Sam disconnect the call and Callen started running towards the van. He put the lights on before speeding off. If someone was attacking Deeks then that meant Sam would get involved but callen didn't know how many men there were and what the odds were. As he was driving he got Eric to call Kensi and give her an update.

Arriving at the beach 15 minutes later, callen could see Sam's car parked along the street where as kensi's was park haphazardly like she'd stopped in a hurry. He could see a woman that he instantly knew was kensi kneeling next to a man who was still on the ground.

Pulling into a space wildly he jumped out and ran straight towards them. As he got closer he noticed that the man on the ground was Sam and he could hear Kensi trying to wake him.

"Come on sam wake up, we need to know what happened. Come on sam wake up" Kensi just seemed to be repeating this.

Callen sprinted the last several meters to his partner's side.

"Kens, what happened. The last that Sam told me was that deeks was being attacked and that he was going to go and help"

"Same here, that's what Eric told me but when I got here I just found him like this, an ambulance is on the way because he is probably going to have a concussion."

"So Paterson must have made his move and grabbed Deeks and they've got a head start on us now. But hopefully when sam wakes up he can fill in some of the blanks for us."

Callen kept his fingers on Sam's carotid artery to make sure that Sam's pulse stayed strong and healthy.

"Ughhh, awww man my head hurts" sam groaned

"Sam hey partner can you open your eyes for us"

Sam squinted, one eye opening half way.

"No come on sam, open your eyes" kensi's voice was commanding to the ex-seal and sam obeyed the order and opened both eyes, squinting slightly at the bright LA afternoon sunshine. Suddenly he remembered how he came to be laying on the floor.

"Where's deeks? Someone pistol whipped me."

Looking up at Kensi and Callen's worried faces Sam knew that Deeks was gone.

"They got him didn't they callen?" Sam desperately wanted Callen to say no and that Deeks was somewhere else but he knew the odds of that were slim.

"Yep sam it looks that way. Can you tell us what happened?"

Instead of answering sam tried to sit up but kensi pushed him back down.

"Sam you have a concussion so just lie down and tell us what happened."

Sam sighed but lay back down and started telling them what happened.

"While I was on the phone with you G, deeks was just walking back to his car from the beach. He looked troubled but like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was almost back at his car when one man walks over to him and grabs his arm but deeks punches him in the face. That's when I hung up on you callen. A van stops and two more men get out and start attacking him but deeks is fighting back. I get over there and he looked surprised to see me but he looked glad. That's when I think it was one more man got out of the van and two of them mange to grab me and one gets hold of deeks because he was more badly hurt. The first man who I'm sure was Paterson drugs him with something and then they fling him in the van. One of them then knocked me out."

"How…how badly was he hurt Sam" kensi's voice showed concern for her partner.

"Maybe broken ribs and a concussion"

They all look at each other for a second at a seeming loss of what to do, when the ambulance arrives and take Sam to be checked out, death to Sam's words.

With sam gone, they turn their attention to deeks phone, LAPD ID badge and gun that the men ahd taken off him and flung them on the floor next to were same was laying.

The phone shows all their calls and messages but it looks like deeks had turned it off. Suddenly the phone bleeps that it was a new message. Kensi calls Eric to get a trace on it but he tells them that the signal is bouncing off to many transmission towers for him to get a lock on where it was sent from.

Callen sighed another dead end. Opening the text they saw the following message.

_I can't have my job then no one can. I'm a man of my word._ _I'll be seeing you soon but you won't be seeing me. P_

They both looked at each the dread and fear for a colleague showing in their faces.

….xoxoxoxoxo…xoxoxoxoxox….xoxoxoxoxo…..oxxoxoxoxo….

Deeks' subconscious knew where he was going even if he didn't quite know himself. He felt his car pull of the freeway and turn down the street that he subconsciously knew led to the beach but his thoughts were back with what sam had said. His car stopped and he looked up. He found he was parked in a space right by the beach. There was hardly anyone there, only a few surfers that were getting the last waves of the day and a couple of people having a picnic down the other side of the beach.

He got out and walked down to the sand. He sat down heavily and let his mind wander. Some of his thoughts were telling him that sam was just trying to get the man who hurt his friend and the other part of his mind was telling him that he had been letting his feeling affect his work. He had been acting more light-hearted then usual because he was trying to hide how he felt.

His mind thought back and soon he was reliving another memory that he thought he had pushed down far enough that he would never have to think about it again but it was coming back up because of what was happening and he had been reliving it for days now.

_Back about 24 years_

_An eight year old Marty deeks stood terrified in front of his father. He had tried to avoid his dad by hiding but he had been found and dragged into the living room. His mum was gone, she had left two days ago after telling him that she loved him and she would be back in a few days and there was no one that could protect him from his father. He could tell that he was drunk already and knew that he would be drinking long into the night before he finally passed out. _

_His father grabbed his chin and pulled his head forcefully upwards so he was looking straight at his father._

"_You know Marty, from the day you were born I knew that you were going to be a very useless boy but know I know that I was right. With all your whining you have given your mother the flu and now she left so she could get better. Huh she won't be coming back because she will realise that she is much better off when you're not around. Why don't you just leave Marty, because your mother and I were happy when you weren't here. _

_As if to seal his words and let go of some of the frustration he had gotten during the day, he punched Marty in the jaw knocking him backwards and unable to catch his balance, he crashed into the wooden coffee table, sending sparks of pain up his back. He rolled awkwardly off the table and onto the floor but his father was not done with him yet and kicked him viciously in the ribs several times for good measure before wandering off to find another drink._

_Marty scrambled painfully to his feet after a few seconds, knowing that if he was still there when he father got back he would get another beating only this time it would be worse. It took him five painful minutes to climb the stairs to his room and then he checked his injuries._

_Looking in the mirror he could not help but wonder if he was worthless, after all his mother had seemed unhappy but he had just assumed that that came from living with his father but when she had left she seemed happy at the idea of time without him. Tears forming in his eyes he climbed into his bed and pulled the duvet around him like a shield against him and the drunk downstairs._

_Back to present time_

Deeks gazed out over the sea and thought about his life so far. He had shot his father in self defence when he was 11. After that it had just been him and his mother until he had gone to college and she had moved across the country and then he'd become an undercover agent where he had to depend on only himself. He had been to able hide all his childhood memories and put on a mask that he didn't care whenever someone found out about his past. After his father had gone to prison he had been free and happy.

Then he had been pulled in to be a liaison officer for a federal team and for the short time leading up too today, he had felt welcomed and it was good to have a partner to watch his back. He didn't know if he would ever tell them about his past but after today he didn't know what they would say to him.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice when the sun started setting and he didn't hear when his phone went off repeatedly.

After about one hour he decided to go home. Walking back to his car, he once again got the feeling that he was being watched and looking round the now almost empty car park he saw a man watching him from under a street light. Deeks reached for his gun but found his holster empty. He cursed; he had left it in his car. Walking towards his car a little faster, the feeling intensified and just before he reached his car, he felt a hand on his arm spinning him round. Deeks could see a gun in a holster by his side. Reacting quickly deeks punched the man in the side of the face and he stumbled back. Before he could hit him again though, a van stopped in front of him and two more men got out grabbing deeks. Knowing that this couldn't be anything good, he fought back thrusting his elbow back into one man's face. Before turning and kicking the other man in the ribs. As he was fighting he heard someone yelling his name. Looking up he saw sam running towards him. Moment's later sam joined the fight and it looked like they were going to get out of this alright. A fourth man got out of the van and hit deeks viciously in the ribs. Deeks felt some of his ribs break and he heard a thud from behind him and it sounded like sam was down. After one man grabbed him and restrained him he saw that sam was also being restrained by two other men but he looked unharmed.

The first man walked round in front of Deeks, allowing deeks to get a good look at him.

He was about 6'1 and had longish dark hair and green eyes. He didn't have muscle like Sam but there was still some there and he was dressed in dark clothing.

When he spoke his voice, sounded like he had travelled a lot but stayed in one place long enough that he had picked up the accent. "Well, well detective, I won't say a lot because I'll explain it all later but we will be spending a lot of time together. See you soon detective Deeks."

The man produced a syringe and plunged it into deeks' arm and the drug quickly took effect and deeks started feeling weak and his eyelids heavy. The last face he saw was Sam's and he heard Sam's voice calling out angrily as the darkness took him.

The man took his cell phone and badge and walked back to where sam was. He nodded to one of the men and he pistol whipped sam round the face knocking him out. The two men let go of sam and took hold of deeks, flinging him in the van. The van left and Paterson checked that sam was out cold before walking to the shadows to wait and watch the show unfold.

….xoxoxoxoxox…..xoxoxoxoxoxo…..xoxoxoxoxoxo….xoxoxoxoxox

Back in the control room, everyone was silent. Eric and Nell were gone. Hetty had told them to go and get coffee and food as it was going to be a long night. Sam had discharged himself from the hospital and come straight back to Osp. Hetty was in her office making call to some of her many contacts and now each of the agents were thinks about deeks and what they'd seen of him on cases so far.

Callen thought back to when Hetty told them deeks was missing. When she said that they were investigating because deeks was our liaison officer and that was as close to one of us as it gets. He remembered following Hetty when she went to see deeks and when he saw deeks and heard him talk about why he still wanted to put his life on the lie for his job, he knew that he would have to work to make deeks safe but he was happy that he was on his team.

Sam thought back to when, Hetty sent deeks and kensi into the desert and he remembered how much deeks complained as he tried to get out of going. He thought to when kensi called them to say that they had found the marines and they had to move, when they got there if they had been another half a minute they would all be dead. A small smile came to his face when he thought about how deeks came out from behind the burnt and mostly destroyed trailer saying that he was fine to if anybody cared. He had given him thumbs up because even though he would never admit it the detective had grown on him.

Kensi thought back to weeks ago when she and deeks had been undercover as alarm fixers when they were trying to work out how would want to kill Emma Mastin. Her 6 year old son Joshua had pulled deeks off to play video games. He was so good with children because the next minute she had heard little happy shouts coming from the other room as she talked to Emma. Later on when they been in the fire fight she was glad that she had deeks looking out for her back. In one day she had shown him that he could be serious in a fight but he could also be childlike. He brought a happy side to the team and he was good at lightening the mood.

They needed to find him; they couldn't handle another Dom situation. They needed to find him before Paterson sold him or hurt him in anyway. Hetty's thoughts were focused as she kept calling people and calling in favours. Mr Deeks will be found and Paterson you will be behind bars where you deserve or if one of my agents find that you have hurt Mr deeks you will most lily end up dead. Of course there would be time for revenge on what he had done to Dominic Vail.

**That's the end of chapter 3. I hope you liked it and I'll update soon. **

**I hope you liked the changes and just in case anyone was wondering this story takes place between borderline and special delivery when Nell was a recurring character. Chapter 4 will be up soon.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

His head pounding, Deeks became more aware of his surroundings. Forcing his eyes open he was faced with his feet. Lifting his head up seemed to be impossible just thinking about it, but Deeks knew that lifting his head was the only way to find out where he was. He was stripped to the waist but had his trousers on still. His shoes and socks were also missing. There was no light in the room but after a few minutes his eyes adjusted enough for him to get a look at where he was.

Looking round he was able to tell that the room was small and had only one window. It did not let in a lot of light beacuse of the fact that it was only about ten cm high. Deeks could see the ground was level with the bottem of the window and he came to the conclusion that the room was underground. There was one door and it looked pretty simple from where he was but Deeks was willing to bet that from the other side it didn't look quite as easy to get open without the right means. Directly opposite from him was a table that ran the length of the wall. On the table despite the fact that he had little light he could quite clearly see that there was a whole manner of objects that's sole purpose was to inflict as much pain as possible. He could see three whips; one was a cat o' nine tails, another was a bull whip and the last looked like a cat o' nine tails except the ends had what looked like hooks on the end and barbed wire running along the leather stands. On the table there was also a pair of pliers, a taser, several syringes and a few knifes. There was also what looked like a cattle prod. To top it all off there was a bucket placed under a tap in the far corner of the room.

Because there was a window in the room he could see that the sun was still up but it was significantly lower then when he was on the beach. Surely people were looking for him by now. Deeks ran over his last thoughts before he was taken, he remembered that Sam had been there. This made Deeks' thoughts stop in his tracks, had Sam been taken as well? Pushing further to try to recover more of the memory only made him succeed in making the pain in his head reach unbearable levels, which made him even more confused because he remembered feeling the pinch of a needle in his arm, before he blacked out. Shifting slightly, he tried to find a position that was comfortable but he was in no luck because of the position he was being kept in.

He was chained to the ceiling of the room and by the way that his arms were hurting he as able to guess that some time had passed. His feet were chained to a metal ring in the floor and he could just about stand on tip toes but Deeks knew that he could easily break his toes if he out to mush weight on them for a long time. Because there was only one window and that was closed tightly with metal bars in front of it, no draft should have been able to get in but at the same time Deeks could feel a chill in the room and could feel a dampness which confirmed that the room was definatly underground.

As he was contemplating how to get out, the door opened flooding the room with artificial light. Deeks winced and turned his head away from the door. As his eyes adjusted to the light he heard the door slam shut and footsteps heading towards him. Looking over the same man that Deeks last remembered seeing before he was taken, standing in front of him.

"Detective Deeks, I think you know who I am but in case you are as stupid as you seem my name is James Paterson. I used kensi's partner." As he spoke he walked towards Deeks and stopped just short of him.

"You lost your right to be kensi's partner when you sold your country technology to the Russians besides I think she likes me better than all of her other partners" Deeks smiled cheekily as he said that.

Paterson responded with a punch to Deeks' jaw which snapped his head back.

"You know detective, you're not the first person who has stayed in this room. You didn't know Dominic Vail, but he was also kensi's partner. I kept him here for a bit, I was planning on keeping him here until I killed him but I got a good offer for him so I sold him. I heard later that he was shot during a rescue. I won't sell you no matter how high the offer. I want you to suffer."

He walked over to the table and started looking at the different objects, choosing which one to use.

"You do realise that you took me with Sam there, by now they'll be looking for me"

"I'm well aware of that but they won't find you until I leave your body on the steps of the NCIS OSP office. I will try to leave your face alone so that they can identify it easily but no promises." While he was saying this he put the bucket under the tap and turned on the tap. When it was half full he turned the tap off and he walked back over to Deeks with the bucket and cattle prod.

"Time to suffer, Detective Marty Deeks."

Before Deeks could say or do anything, Paterson threw the bucket of water over Deeks and started pressing the end of the prod onto his chest. There was a sizzling sound as the electricity connected with the water.

Paterson repeated this on different points of Deeks' upper torso and back. After about five minutes Deeks' vision became blurry around the edges because of the pain and he gave into the darkness willingly.

Paterson noticed that Deeks was out cold but he kept going for another five minutes before stopping. He went back to the table replacing the cattle prod for a syringe. Walking back to Deeks he pulled Deeks' chin up and backhanded him a few times to get him awake. When seeing that he was, Paterson stepped back for a minute to survey the man that Kensi had put her trust in. He had passed out after hardly anything. He was weak._ Detective Deeks, you haven't felt anything yet _he thought as he pushed the syringe into Deeks' arm and watched as it did its job, sending the man back into oblivion.

…xoxoxooxox…xoxoxoxox…xoxoxoxoxox…..xoxoxoxox…

Kensi sighed and threw the second donut box in the bin and gratefully took the coffee off Sam who had just come back from the shop.

After two hours they had found nothing. They had reviewed the security footage from the car park where Deeks was taken and found nothing that they didn't already know. The van had no plates and so that meant that it would be harder to find. Eric had put the details in kaleidoscope and put word out to the LAPD patrols but nothing had shown up yet. Worst of all Eric had found out that the text Paterson had sent them had been sent from the other side of the car park. Eric had looked to see if they could see what direction he went in but he was just below one camera and when he walked onto a path the trees blocked the other camera from picking up where he had gone. No other traffic camera's had picked Paterson up anywhere. He had vanished and so had Deeks.

Kensi looked over to where Eric and Nell were typing still trying to find footage of where the van was headed. Sam was pacing and Callen stood in the corner sipping his coffee. She hated standing around feeling useless especially when it was her partner that had gone missing again. The first time with Dom had been hard enough but know, knowing that it was an old psycho partner of her's that was the reason for his death made her feel all the worse about not finding him sooner or being able to help him on that rooftop. She had finally accepted his death but she was still not over it. Now that Deeks had been taken Kensi knew that she would not stop until she had found him alive and if they were too late she would hunt down Paterson and make sure he got what he deserved.

Hetty walked in as Eric sat back in his chair with a sigh.

"Mr Beale, have you found anything?" Hetty asked, slightly fearing the answer

"Yes and no Hetty. I found nothing about where Paterson and Deeks are but I have found why we can't. The security cameras were all down for time it would have taken for the van to drive past it. As the van moved down the street and out of the view of the camera, the camera would come back leaving us with a gap of around six seconds on each tape."

"So we have nothing" Sam stopped pacing and turned to look at the tech operator.

Nell jumped in to try and smooth the tension. "Not necessarily, we can follow the trail of cameras that were down, to the point where there are no cameras to look at and we should have a better idea of where they could have been going"

"Mr Beale, could you get started on that please. Ms Jones I want you to find out everything on Paterson; all his known aliases, where he has been, properties, allies, I want everything. For the rest of you I want you to go back to the original case and find petty officer Moore's killer"

"But Hetty…" Callen was interrupted before he was able to finish his sentence.

"No Mr Callen I want you to finish this case. At the moment we have no leads and you will not be helping detective Deeks by running around the city with nothing to go on. Plus we have proven that Paterson's cousin was involved and if he is with Paterson he might lead us to Mr Deeks. Now go."

Sighing callen glanced at Sam and Kensi before walking out. Sam and Kensi followed close behind but kensi stopped and turned back to face Hetty again.

"We won't give up on him right Hetty, we'll keep looking?"

"Of course my dear, I have every intension of bringing Mr Deeks home"

Seeming satisfied Kensi turned and walked out behind Sam. After they had gone Eric looked at Nell before turning to Hetty.

"Hetty, what If we… you know what if we…. What if we can't bring Deeks home?"

For a moment Hetty was silent and Eric noticed that she looked visibly sadder.

"We can try to bring Mr Deeks back alive but if we can't get him alive than I think Paterson will make it easy for us to find Mr Deeks. So he can watch our grief but it won't come to that." Hetty turned and walked out.

After looking at each other for a moment Eric and Nell picked up their coffee, drowned about half the cup before turning back to their computers and finding everything they could on the camera trail and on Paterson.

….xoxoxoxoxo…xoxoxoxxoxo…xoxoxoxoxxo…xoxoxoxo…..

Deeks slowly became more aware of his surroundings once again. Giving the room a quick glance to make sure nothing had changed, after he was sure it was all the same he turned his attention to the damage done to his body. His arms were aching more and more after holding him up for so long and the water had dried. Looking at the burns on his chest a little bit of bile rose in his throat. The skin around where the cattle prod had touched him was red and the skin was peeling away and puss was leaking out in same places. He could not see the marks on his back but he knew they were just as bad. Every time he tried to move he brought more pain to his entire upper body so he stopped trying to get free and just let his thoughts wander. He thought back over his life thinking about events and people that may have ultimatly lead to him being a liason with NCIS and bringing him here to this small, dark and damp room

Over the first eleven years of his life, his father had beaten him in mostly a drunken rage but sometimes when he was sober. His one real friend was Ray and when he was ten Ray had given him a .22 pistol in case he ever needed to defend himself. Ray knew that his father was abusive and most nights Deeks would do nothing to avoid being beaten because it meant his father was focused on him and not his mother. Deeks had known that Ray knew that he would try to defend his mother at all costs, which is why Ray had given it to him. On the 15th April 1990 his father had gotten more drunk than usual; his mother had taken the brunt of the beating and when she was unconscious his father had turned on him. After a vicious beating, his father had had more tequila and got out his old hunting shotgun and pointed it at his mother and Deeks alternatively. Deeks remembered the fear that he felt when he was sure he would die. It was only when his mother had managed to fight her way back to the world to take a kick at his dad before yelling at him to run, that he knew he had to save her. The rest of that night was a blur in his memory, but he clearly remembered aiming at his father after he felt the bullet fragment hit him in the arm, and pulling the trigger. He remembered running flat out, out of the house and round the corner before he had to stop because he was too badly hurt. That was where the police found him.

After that his life drastically improved. His mother divorced his father and they moved to a small flat not far the sea. He started a new school, but kept in touch with Ray.. He was able to start surfing more often and then he went to university and his mother moved away to Pennsylvania. They had kept in touch and everything had been fine. He had become a detective and then started working with NCIS. He knew his mother was not happy about him having a high risk job but she understood it made him happy.

The door of the room suddenly slammed open and Paterson walked back inside.

"Detective, I trust you are happy with the treatment you are having here? Not that it will change" walking over to the torture table, Deeks had named it, he picked up a syringe inspected it before putting it back and choosing another.

"Well honestly it's cold, dark and horrible in here and the staff are terrible" Deeks cheekily replied.

"That was a rhetorical question" Paterson punched Deeks in the ribs and smiled at the satisfaction of hearing a rib break.

Deeks gasped at the pain but managed to hide it well. Paterson gave him a sick sadistic smile and carried on talking.

"You know before I worked with the Russians, I was a clean agent. I never touched drugs, even as a teenager and I hardly ever drank and when I did I kept it to a low level. But then when I had to run from the agency I took my first lot of drugs and now I feel sorry for you detective because you've never felt the rush, have you?" He stopped and looked up at Deeks who seemed to know what was coming and he tried to move away a little but it was a futile attempt. Paterson walked up and paused the needle of the syringe just centimetres from deeks' arm.

"This is a nice big dose of PCP. It makes you hallucinate so I won't have to do anything and after this you won't see me until tomorrow and then the day after that and the day after that…" while he was speaking he pushed the needle into Deeks arm and pushed the plunger all the way down.

Deeks instantly felt the drug and his adrenaline levels shoot up, along with his heart rate. His vision blurred and he was aware of nothing. He saw his father and spent some of the PCP rush being yelled at but he was mostly just seeing the rest of his team.

"_We don't want to look for you deeks you're a pain in the arse"- sam_

"_I want someone who I can trust with my back in the field"- kensi_

"_We are only looking because Paterson kidnapped Dom"- callen_

"_You useless Marty"- Gordon john Brandel_

Deeks felt detached from his body and felt all he suspicions confirmed, the team did not want him and they would leave him there to rot at the mercy of some psycho.

Not for the first time in his life Deeks felt well and truly alone with no way to escape.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Just as note this chapter jumps 1 month ahead and agent Richard wickers is kensi's temporary partner while they look for deeks. He is made up by me but the rest sadly do not belong to me.**

The atmosphere could have been cut with a knife. Director Vance looked at each of them individually before speaking.

"You know why I have called you here, your ongoing investigation into Detective Deeks' kidnapping." He paused and looked on as Kensi, Callen and Sam all looked at him more attentively. He swallowed before continuing "I have come to tell you that I want your investigation to be put on hold for the time being" He sat back and waited for the yelling and protesting that was sure to follow his announcement. He didn't have to wait long.

"Leon you can't be serious" Hetty exclaimed, angrily setting down her cup of earl grey.

"Hetty listen to me. Detective Deeks is not an NCIS agent…" he was interrupted by Callen.

"Deeks does the job of an agent and he does it well, the only difference between us and him is the title"

"Wait G your forgetting that another difference is his hair, none of ours is that fluffy" Callen smiled at one of the rare jokes Kensi gave these days.

Waiting until they were done, Leon spoke again. "Would you let me finish? Now like I was saying detective Deeks may not be an agent but he is the liaison officer between us and the LAPD and even though he does do the job of an agent, he is not an agent by his own choice. Now may I remind you that you work for NCIS and since detective Deeks has gone missing you have only solved two cases and then you have abandoned a third because of a lead that turned up dry. This cannot go on; I will allow you to look for detective Deeks but on the side of your cases, when you have a break between cases you can look but your NCIS cases come first" He paused again waiting for their reactions.

There was complete silence in Hetty's office. Hetty took another sip of her tea and watched her agent's faces also waiting to see what their reactions would be. It had been a hard month on them all, they had had no leads on where Paterson had taken Deeks apart from what happened a couple of weeks ago and after that most of the laughter and fun was gone from them.

Sam was the first person to speak up. "If we stop looking for Deeks then by the time we do find a lead it could be too late just like with what happened with Dom."

"I understand that agent Hanna but you have been looking for the best part of a month and you have come up with nothing apart from that lead you had two weeks ago that left you with nothing and lft me with a bill for damages" just after saying that Leon saw Callen's jaw tighten and a fire go up in Kensi's eyes.

"Director please we have to keep looking for Deeks, we cannot just let him go. Besides the new partner you gave me is an idiot, he has no sense of humour…

"Don't forget arrogant and has bad hair" callen chipped in with a grin.

Hetty looked at her agents and then at Leon. She could tell that he was fighting a losing battle at trying to get them to stop looking for Mr Deeks. There was a good thing that had come from this conversation; Ms Blye had made one of her these days rare jokes.

Holding up one hand, to bring back everyone's attention, Leon thought that it was time to come to an agreement about the kidnapping of their liaison officer. "I understand why you do not want to stop looking for Mr Deeks but you cannot look forever. So I offer you this, you get one more week of fully looking for him and after that you will take a navy case." He paused and waited to see what they would do. He noticed that they all looked at one another before coming to a silent agreement. It was Callen that voiced their decision.

"Alright, one more week it is" and with that he turned and walked out of the room. Sam followed just after, with Kensi close behind.

Leon looked over at Hetty and gave her a questioning look. Hetty replied by saying "did you think that they would waste time."

..…..xoxoxoxoxoxoxo…

Outside Callen turned to Kensi.

"Alright Kens you go up to tell Eric and Nell and we will go for coffee and doughnuts"

Kensi gave him a small grin and said "make sure to get me a chocolate one" before turning and running up the stairs to ops.

Callen and Sam walked towards Sam's challenger and headed for their preferred coffee shop. The atmosphere in the car was so palpable; sam thought that people outside the car could feel it. Each man was wrapped inside their own thoughts so the car was silent. Callen watched as Sam slammed the car door proving that something was weighing heavily on his mind and it was easy to guess what.

"Hey Sam we'll get the coffee in a minute, let's take a walk" concerned for his partner Callen knew Sam should let it out before he did something stupid.

"No thanks G I'm good let's just get the coffee and go"

"Hey it's me or Nate dude; I'm just trying to save you a therapy session.

Looking over at this partner Sam replied still trying to get out of and he knew just how to do it. "You wouldn't tell Nate would you cause you now that I'd drag your arse to Nate for your own turn the second he's done with me" Sam had to smile at the look on Callen's face when he threatened that.

"Ok you win but you're still coming for a walk" Sam could tell by the tone in Callen's voice that it was easier to just go with him. Sighing he walked past Callen and headed for the path that ran alongside the beach.

They walked quietly for a moment but before Callen could ask Sam how he was holding up, Sam asked the question that they had all been trying to avoid for the month deeks had been gone.

"G…what happens if we find Deeks but it's too late or what if we can't even find him"

Callen stopped walking and put his arm out to Sam's chest to stop him as well. "Are you doubting Eric and Nells tech skills there Sam" he said with a slight grin but then his expression turned serious "If it is too late to save Deeks then Patterson is dead, no matter where he tries to hide and you know that we would find him because of what we found the other week"

Sam turns away and gazes out to sea lost in the memory that he doesn't want.

_Flash back- a week and a half ago_

"_This is hopeless" agent Wickers says putting down the file he had been reading through "we can't find anything, this guy is probably dead already"_

_Sam looks over a glare fixed on his face. "We will keep looking until we find something"_

_Callen looks ready to interrupt when Eric whistles and calls down that he has found a lead. The team run up the stairs followed by Wickers who walks slowly up behind them._

_Once everyone is their Eric starts to explain "so we found a guy that Paterson made contact with yesterday, a Robert Birch and we had a tail put on him. The officers just checked in saying that Birch had gone to an old warehouse by the docks. It's as good as place as any to keep someone undetected. The docks aren't used so no one would have reason to go there…"_

"_Unless they were hiding something" kensi finished._

"_Well let's go" Sam said as he was already walking out the door. _

_A short while later and they were ready to enter the warehouse._

"_Kensi, you and Wickers take the back and, me and sam will take the front" the agents walked round to their entry point and waited for the signal. Kensi was practically bouncing from the adrenaline and the nerves._

"_3…2…1 go" Callen's voice came over the comms and Kensi kicked the door in and went inside, the tactical team and Wickers following closely behind._

"_Clear" "clear" "clear" soon all the rooms were secured except for one. Sam went in first, followed by kensi and then callen. The room was empty save for a table along the back wall which had things on it that Kensi didn't even want to think about; all the objects had blood on them. Also on the table there was a laptop and there were some chains hanging from the ceiling with a pool of blood underneath them. Callen moves across the room and turns the laptop on and automatically a video comes up. Taking a deep breath Callen presses play and then steps back._

_The video shows an unconscious Deeks hanging from the chains from the ceiling. The camera turns round and they see that Paterson is the one with the camera._

"_Hello I now you are here to see Deeks but you have come too late. Now let me wake him up so he can say hello as well" the camera turns back around and they watch as Paterson slaps Deeks hard across the face. Nothing happens. Paterson slaps him again and again until Deeks starts to move._

_He lifts his head up and when he sees the camera, he grins but it is obviously forced. Kensi gasps at the state of him. His hair is matted with blood and one eye is swollen shut. Paterson steps back and they see Deeks chest, it is one big bruise, and is splattered with blood from cuts still oozing blood. His pants are ripped and bloodstained _

"_Come on Deeks say hello to your team members" Paterson says from behind the camera_

"_Sure when they show up I will" Callen looked over at Kensi and saw that her expression had changed from anger to guilt._

"_Well they're not going to show up. The only reason that they have found this warehouse is because I made one of my people slip up and bring them here. The only time that they will see you again is when they find your body" Paterson laughed cruelly before walking over to the table and picking up a whip._

"_ready to play Deeks, you know how this goes you scream and beg me to stop and I will but you will get something else instead" Paterson moved the camera so that it showed Deeks again and started walking in circles round him, whipping him as he walked._

_To Deeks' credit he didn't cry out once but Sam couldn't work out if he was just putting on a brave front because he knew that they were watching. After about two minutes callen fast forwarded the video, he paused it when the whipping had stopped._

"_Hmmm he's not as much fun as usual but oh well. Take a good look because this is the last time you will see him alive" Paterson zoomed in on Deeks' face which had lines of pain drawn all over it but Deeks still managed to smile cheekily at the camera._

"_Hey guys do you reckon that my vacation time is over because I do besides the service here sucks"_

_Kensi let out a small laugh that was nearly non existence but still there. Suddenly Deeks let out a small yelp and they saw Paterson walk back to the table and place down a syringe. Just before the video went dark they saw Deeks thrashing round obviously in pain. After the video had ended they all stood there for a moment before running out._

_Back to normal time_

Sighing quietly Sam, shook his head bringing himself out of the memory and turned round to find Callen walking back towards the coffee shop. Following they brought the coffee and doughnuts and drove back to Osp in silence again. They had barely got in the door when they saw Kensi running towards them.

"Kensi what is it?" Sam asked slightly dreading the answer until he saw the slight smile on kensi's face.

"What took you so long? Nell found one of the people that's fingerprints were in Mexico, where they found the stuff on Dom, has just gotten of a flight that landed in LAX. He might know where Paterson is hiding because this guy is wanted for drug smuggling and from what we found at that warehouse Paterson has been drugging Deeks." Her face fell a bit before she continued "well it's worth a shot isn't it?"

Callen glanced quickly at Sam before nodding and Kensi and turning back towards the car. "Do you have a location?"

"Eric is sending it to your phone" Ten minutes later they arrived at the hotel where he had made a reservation.

"Okay the guys name is Matthew White and he's wanted for drug smuggling and murder so god knows how he got in even with a fake passport" Callen informed them.

They walked over to the check in desk and were told that they had just missed him. They all ran quickly outside and started scanning the street.

"Over there. Federal agents" Sam yelled and then cursed as White took one look at them and started running. Callen and Sam chased him but it was Kensi who stepped out of a side ally and stopped him by hitting him with a bin lid.

"Nicely done kensi now let's get him to the boatshed" Callen hurled white up to his feet and slapped the chuffs on.

..…..xoxoxoxoxoxoxo…

Kensi paced as she watched Sam and Callen interrogate White. Her mind kept replaying over the day that Deeks had been taken, he had told her it felt like someone was watching him but she had dismissed it. Maybe if she had listened and taken the time to check it out Deeks wouldn't have left and Paterson wouldn't have been able to take Deeks. She had said as much to Nate and he just told her that she kept saying "if" and "maybe" He had told her that "if and maybe" were the worst words in the dictionary but they were there for a reason and that was because no one could change it. They couldn't get rid of the words, they just had to live with them and that's what she had to do just live with the choices she made because she couldn't change them now. In a way it had helped but she still felt guilty.

The door to the interrogation room opening startled her out of her thoughts and she glanced up to see Callen and Sam walk out.

"Any luck?" The hope was clear in her voice.

"Well he has admitted that he knows Paterson and he gloated over the fact that he saw Dom but he won't tell us where Deeks is." The annoyance in Callen voice was clear and Sam just looked plain angry. "He even didn't tell us anything when Sam went all navy seal on him"

Kensi felt angry wash over her. This guy had seen Dom and if she had anything to do with it, he would tell them where Deeks was.

"Let me try" without waiting for an answer she strode from the room and walked to the interrogation room. She pushed the door open with a lot more force and relished the sight that White jumped when the door slammed into the wall.

"Well, let's make this short and sweet shall we. We know that you know where Detective Deeks is being held so why don't you just tell me and this can be a lot less painful on you."

"I'm not telling you anything because I don't know anything" It was only the twitch in his eye that gave him away.

"Fine we'll do this the hard way"

Watching from the monitor, in the main room of the boathouse Callen turned to Sam "should we stop her?"

"No she hasn't done anything that is beyond what she is allowed to do yet." Sam replied chucking and then wincing as he watched kensi kick White in the golden area. Not five minutes later Kensi came out, grinning.

"We have a location… what?" she stopped as she realised that Sam and Callen were staring at her.

"Nothing…just do you think that was a bit much" Sam carefully inquired

"No…well it got him to talk didn't it?"

Not being able to disagree, the three of them grinned at each other before heading out to the car, each one cautiously hopeful that they might find Deeks.

…xoxoxoxoxoxoxo…..

They all stood in their positions waiting for the signal to go. All three members of the team were having da jà vu except this time they were at an old farm and not warehouse. An ambulance was nearby ready in case they found Deeks or someone got hurt.

Callen voice came over the comms "ready…3…2…1…go" Kensi kicked the barn door open and was greeted by an open space which must have been used to keep hay judging by the amount that was scattered on the floor. Sam and callen came in on the over side and kensi went over to join them.

"Let's check round the back I saw a couple of out buildings." They left the barn at a jog, guns ready just in case. The first building was empty but the second had a padlock on. Quickly shooting it, Sam pushed the door open and they went along checking each room until they got the last one. It had another padlock on it but this one they knew they couldn't shoot off. Kensi got her lock picking set out and in no time had the door open. The sight that greeted them was both a relief and a shock.

Deeks was chained to the ceiling in a similar position to what they had seen on the video. The table was along one wall and Sam moved over to it and knocked all the stuff off it and dragged the table over to Deeks. Callen climbed up on the table and immediately checked for a pulse. It was weak but it was there.

"He's got a pulse; we have to get him down. Kens you need to pick the lock on the chains"

Callen jumped down to give kensi the room on the table that she needed, he touched her arm for support and she looked at him with a smile just teasing the edges of her mouth. Once again she picked the locks easily and soon Deeks was laying on the table as they waited for the paramedics.

Deeks hadn't moved since they had come in. After a quick check over, they all knew that Deeks needed help right away. Sam left to go and wait for the medics, so he could show them where to go.

"Eric how long till the medics get here?"

"Any moment callen" Eric's voice sounded strained and Callen could almost tell that he was thinking about when Dom was laying bleeding on that rooftop and when Eric had told Sam that the medics were coming but they were too late. Callen started to tell Eric about Deeks condition when a small groan coming from the table caught his attention.

Deeks shifted on the table and his eyes flickered and opened slightly.

"Hey Deeks" kensi quietly said taking hold of his hand. When she spoke Deeks eyes opened fully and went wide with confusion.

"k'si" he groaned and his eyes flicked shut again as he grimaced in pain.

"Hey partner no sleeping on the job, come on open your eyes for us Deeks"

Deeks' forehead creased together and he pulled his eyes open staring blankly at her. "k'nsi" he croaked his voice sounding like it hadn't been used in awhile.

"Yeah it's me Deeks. We've got you. You're safe now" Kensi looked round as she heard footsteps running towards them. The paramedics burst into the room a second later and kensi went to move aside but Deeks' grip on her hand tightened and he moaned. "Don't leave k'nsi"

"Alright Deeks I'm not going anywhere" she was quick to sooth him as kensi didn't want Deeks hurting himself further. She turned to the paramedics "let me stay with him, I can keep him calm"

After a quick glance at each other the medics nodded "but if we tell you to move out the way, you move okay?"

"Got it" Kensi kept her grip on Deeks hand as the medics worked to get him ready to move. She looked over at Callen and Sam who were standing at the back of the room "I'll meet you at the hospital"

"Alright we're ready to move"

"Let's go" the medics pushed the gurney out of the room and rushed it towards the ambulance.

Inside the ambulance as the medics worked furiously to stabilise Deeks, Deeks came to again and started struggling. "Miss, see if you can calm him down, we'd rather not sedate him until we know the extent of his injuries but we will if we don't have a choice."

Kensi gave her full attention to Deeks, one hand still holding his and the other moved to push his blond hair off his forehead. He moaned under her touch and slipped back into unconsciousness.

"I got you deeks your safe now"

**Thew. Now that was a hard chapter to write. Hope you like it and please review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Firstly, I would like to apologise for the long wait in this chapter but as some of you know sometimes life just throws the impossible situations at you and it takes awhile to get back on your feet but I'm sure you do not want to hear about that. How do people like the new season? Living the UK I have only seen a few episodes but I love it. Now onwards with the chapter….**

**Disclaimer: none. I do not own NCIS; Los Angeles. **

**This story is un-beta'd because I do not have one. All mistakes are my own.**

Chapter 6

The world was blurred, numbed. He could hear voices but they had no meaning. All he was aware of was the pain, even if there was less of it than last time he woke up. Deeks chalked that up the fact that it seemed to be colder in the room. He had no idea why he was awake because normally when he woke up and then Paterson was there gloating and Deeks would reply cheekily, still trying to hang on to that but it had been getting harder especially after when Paterson had filmed him, before drugging him again. When he woke up the next time it was in a new room that seemed just as sinister as the last. For the past three days there had been no new pain, Paterson just seemed to have left him to die. He had come mostly to terms with the fact that he could die before anyone could find him but when the darkness beckoned again and he thought that it would be his last day, he had panicked slightly just wishing that someone was here with him to help him through it. His last wish it seemed had come true.

The voices around him became more defined but one voice stood out. Kensi. Kensi was here. He strained to open his eyes, fighting away the darkness that came with a sharp pain in his arms. He was desperate to see her face and not die alone.

He pushed his eyes open a bit because that was all he could manage. No light greeted him but he was used to that. Ever since Paterson had hit him in the head, awhile back his vision was bad at best. At some points he saw nothing but darkness and other times he could see the outline of Paterson as he circled him, waiting for the moment to strike out again. This time he could see a faint outline of someone that had to be Kensi seeing as that was where the voice was coming from. There was another voice of to the side somewhere but he put his full attention on Kensi and tried to speak but from days without water, it hurt so much. His throat was on fire. He couldn't even tell if he made a sound but then he knew he had, because all the voices became silent and a hand squeezed his. He tired to respond, he had to let Kensi know that he still alive even if it was just barely. He wasn't sure if Kensi was here to save him or whether he was dying and his dying wish had been granted. He heard new voices and Kensi tried to pull her hand from his but with a new resolve he fought back grabbing her hand and holding on, trying to ignore the deep pain that erupted around his body with that movement. If he was going to die then he would die with Kensi.

After that the world dimmed and sound became muted. The darkness beckoned and he gave in grateful for its presence.

…xoxoxoxoxoxoxo…

Kensi could only watch as the paramedics worked to stabilise deeks. The fight seemed to have gone out of him and he had not woken since the ambulance had first left towards the hospital. She just hoped that Deeks had a bit more fight left in him and he could make it. She still couldn't believe that Deeks was back, it seemed more like a dream but it felt almost as if her body was moving on auto and her mind had not yet caught up. The journey to the hospital seemed to pass in a blink of an eye but time slowed to a standstill when one of the paramedics shouted that Deeks had crashed. At that moment the ambulance arrived and Deeks was wheeled away from her, and into the hospital as the paramedics continued to try and bring Deeks back. Kensi jumped out of the ambulance and ran towards the A&E but on arriving she didn't see Deeks just many harassed and tired looking nurses. She ran over to one and asked where Martin Deeks had gone but the nurse just looked confused.

"I'm sorry but I just came on duty." The nurse apologised but then an idea came into her head. "Well… a man came in a few minutes ago and they took him straight back to the trauma room 2"

Kensi jumped on that bit of information and fired off a series of questions at the nurse and only stopped when she felt hands on her shoulders that were gently tugging her over to the seating area. Kensi twisted round and saw that it was Callen, while Sam was talking to the nurse who seemed a bit shocked at what had happened. Callen pushed her down in a chair and then started pacing around. Sam came over after a few minutes and sat down next to Kensi.

Sam cleared his throat and started talking "The nurse said that she'd go and find Deeks' doctor and send him out to talk to us." He looked over when he heard a choked shop coming from Kensi. When he noticed that she had tears running down her face, he learned over and pulled Kensi so that she was leaning on his shoulder. He rubbed his hand round her back just like he did when one of his kids had a nightmare.

"It will be ok Kensi, he's a fighter. He held on this long and he must have known that you'd kick his butt if he did anything stupid" but instead of making her feel better Kensi pulled away from him and started pacing round the waiting room.

"His…his heart gave out when we got here sam"

The only sound in the waiting room was that of Kensi's shoes on the squeaky lino flooring. Sam looked at Callen before leaning back in the chair to settle in for the wait until the doctor came out. Every minute felt like an hour but Sam knew that logically time was only going slower because he was worried about Deeks. After what seemed like a long wait but it must have only been half an hour a young looking doctor came in.

"Family of Martin Deeks" he said looking around. Kensi hurried over followed closely Sam and Callen.

"That's us" Callen told him "How is he"

The doctor cleared his throat and pushed his glasses further up his nose with a practiced gesture. "Firstly my name is Doctor Charles Williams and I have been treating Mr Deeks. We have him stabilised and my nurses are prepping him for surgery as we speak. The reason that we have not already sent Mr Deeks to surgery is because of the condition Mr Deeks was in when he arrived. He has multiple Stab wounds all over his torso. We have cleaned and stitched those. The CT scan has revealed internal bleeding and also Mr Deeks has several broken ribs. One of the broken ribs has also punctured his left lung causing it to collapse. We have also conducted an MRI which has revealed that Mr Deeks has a closed head trauma which has caused swelling around his optic nerves. You may have noticed that he had trouble seeing?"

Dr Williams paused for a second and looked at the faces of the people around him. Kensi gave a nod "When we found him he had trouble seeing who we were. Will he be able to see again?"

Dr Williams looked directly at her before speaking again. "I believe that baring any complications during the surgery, the swelling should reduce meaning that Mr Deeks will be able to regain full use of his sight again."

"So he's going to be okay" Sam asked, just wanting the confirmation that Deeks would be alright

Dr Williams gave them a smile. "Barring any complications during or after surgery Mr Deeks will have a fighting chance of making a full recovery" Before the team could ask any questions a nurse came into the waiting room and walked over to Dr Williams.

"Dr Williams the patient has been fully prepped for surgery and is being taken to the anaesthetist"

"Thank you nurse, I will be right there"

Dr Williams turned back to the team members "I will come back and talk to once the surgery has been completed. Because of the manner of surgery that we must perform, it is likely to talk a while. My suggestion is that you all leave the hospital and get some sleep because no offence but you all look like hell"

"We appreciate your concern but we are not leaving until we know that Deeks will be okay" Callen told him firmly knowing that Kensi would not leave and that seeing as Paterson was still out there, it would be impractical to leave the hospital even thought they could not follow Deeks to surgery they would still be close enough to help if there was an emergency such as Paterson trying to get to Deeks again. He had taken Deeks once and Callen would be damned if he let him get to Deeks again.

"I suppose that is to be expected. If you want a proper bed instead of those rather uncomfortable chairs just let one of the nurses know and they will find you a spare cot somewhere to bunk down"

"Thanks doc" Sam said shaking the doctor's hand. The doctor nodded and turned to walk away but was stopped by Kensi's voice

"Doctor, make sure you make him better" There was a slight pleading undertone to her voice and it made Sam and Callen smile a little bit at each other.

"I will do everything in my power, now if you will excuse me. I have a patient to go and make better" Turning away walked back through the double doors and towards the surgery rooms.

Watching him go, Callen turned to Sam and said "well now, we wait" before walking to one of the many chairs and settling in. Sam and Kensi followed him, sitting on either side of him.

…..xoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxox….

That was how Hetty found them when she arrived at the hospital. Kensi was asleep on Callen's shoulder and Callen had started to learn to towards Sam, while Sam has started to lean towards Callen's shoulder. Hetty let out a wry smile, they looked happier despite being asleep in the uncomfortable hospital chairs. Feeling like she should not disturb them she walked over to the nurses' station where a tired looking nurse glanced up at her and gave a sleepy smile.

"What can I do for you?"

"I would like to know the condition Martin Deeks?"

"Are you family?"

"I'm as close as you can get to family. I'm his boss"

The nurse's brow creased. "Henrietta Lang?"

"Yes"

The nurse nodded and glanced over towards the three sleeping agents. "They told me you would be coming and to give you the information that you asked for" She typed something into her computer. "Ahh yes here it is. Martin Deeks is still in surgery but it is normal for a surgical procedure to take this amount of time considering the injuries."

"Thank you" Hetty turned back towards her sleeping agents in time to see Callen waking up. He started to move but then he noticed Kensi. He smiled and gently pushed her off his shoulder and carefully shifted Sam so that Kensi could rest her head on Sam's shoulder.

"Hetty how long have you been here?"

"I have only just arrived Mr Callen." The two of them headed towards the exit and the front of the hospital.

"Have Eric or Nell managed to find Paterson yet?" Callen asked as they headed towards a bench at the front of the hospital next to a set of plants, that the hospital staff had obviously added to make it seem nicer. But for Callen the plants were just that little bit too bright.

"Not yet Mr Callen but they will keep looking. I'm not sure that even I would be able to get them to go home and get some rest and I'm sure that trying to get you to go home will be futile."

"You've got that right Hetty. We're not leaving until we know that Deeks will be ok and that Paterson is behind bars."

Hetty stood in front of callen, who glanced up at her. "It's not just about Mr Deeks though is it, Mr Callen?"

"What do you mean Hetty?"

"You know perfectly well what I mean Mr Callen. You do not wish for another Mr Vail situation, in fact none of us do. It is something that I wish never to happen again but in this line of work those are wishes that have a habit of not coming true."

"We can't lose another member of the team. Despite how annoying Deeks can be, he makes Kensi smile and he completes the team."

"You know Mr Callen; if things are meant to be they will happen then they will come about one way or another."

"You sound just like Nate" Callen said with a chuckle.

Hetty smiled "Maybe I do Mr Callen. Now I think I should go and talk to Ms Blye. I imagine that she is awake now and anyway Mr Hanna looks like he wants to talk to you"

Callen turned his head and sure enough Sam was walking towards them, a weary look on his face. Hetty headed back towards the hospital, stopping briefly to speak to Sam but Callen could not hear what was being said. A moment later Sam, sat down next to Callen.

"Hey G I wondered where you went."

"Hetty brought me out here, to try and get me to talk about my feelings"

Sam laughed "well did it work?"

"Maybe, I still think that Hetty is going to make us talk to Nate again" Callen studied Sam. He looked tired and his eyes were weary. "Okay Sam what's wrong and don't say nothing because I can tell. I've been your partner for years now, I can tell when something I wrong with you."

Sam sighed and stood up facing away from the hospital. "I had a dream of the day that Dom died, but it wasn't Dom it was Deeks. I watched Deeks die. He could still die now. Paterson will try and get to Deeks again, I know it. If he finds out where Deeks is he will come and kill him." Sam stopped and turned back towards Callen "I can't go through watching another team member die. Even Deeks and I never thought I would care as much as I do."

Before Callen could respond, Sam continued talking. "You heard that doctor; his brain swelled causing him to lose his eyesight. What is the swelling doesn't go down? What if he's brain damaged or what if he loses his eyesight? It would mean he can't be a cop and that means everything to Deeks" Sam seemed to deflate and Callen had never seen Sam look so defeated, not even when Dom was killed. Callen stood up and moved in front of Sam so that they were looking eye to eye.

"Sam, Deeks is a fighter, he'll pull through. If he loses his eyesight or if he is…brain damaged we will look after him. Whatever happens we will look after him. We will not let him go through this alone. As a family we look after and protect each other through everything"

Sam looked up and gave a small smile. "Thanks G"

"Now I don't know about you but it is quite cold out here, let's go in" The two of them headed back to hospital. Upon entering the hospital waiting area again, Sam and Callen saw Kensi and Hetty in the corner, Kensi looked better than she had done for the past month. As Sam and Callen started to walk over, Dr Charles Williams walked out from behind the double doors leading to the wards.

Sam spotted the doctor and headed towards him. "Hey doc how is he"

Dr Williams gave them a big smile "He made it through the surgery and the surgery went without any complications. We managed to repair the damage done to him. We treated the internal bleeding and have managed to re-inflate his lung although I have placed Mr Deeks on a ventilator to ease his breathing until he is able to breathe on his own strong enough for my liking. We hope that in a few days the swelling of his brain will completely go down but for now we will just have to wait. We have him in ICU. You can come and see him but only two at a time. Be warned we have him hooked up to a lot of machines and it may seem a bit daunting."

As he started to turn away to lead them through to ICU he was stopped by Kensi who pulled him back round to face her before shaking his hand. Callen and Sam did the same. They both turned to Kensi and Hetty. "You two go first" Callen told them.

Kensi nodded and started to head towards the ward doors with Hetty. After a few confusing turns the arrived at ICU. Dr Williams lead them to a room in the middle of the ward, nearest the nurses' station. He stopped at the door. "You can only stay for a few minutes"

Hetty nodded and pushed open the door. Inside the room, on a bed in the middle of the room surrounded by machines was Deeks. He looked small and pale and not the normal tanned colour he normally was. His beard and hair were still the same length. Kensi thought bitterly that it must have been Paterson that kept him like that. She walked over and sat down in the chair by his bed and took his hand. "You keep fighting Deeks, you hear me. Don't you give up because if you do, you'll have me to answer to."

She brought his hand up and gently kissed it, in a rare show of affection before she stood up and moved away from the bed to away Hetty to sit down.

Hetty moved to the chair that Kensi has recently vacated. "Mr Deeks when you are better and are able to return to work, I'm making you an agent whether you damn well like it or not" She patted his hand before standing up and standing next to Kensi. "He will be okay Ms Blye", Hetty lightly patted Kensi's shoulder, before gently turning her towards the door.

They return to the waiting room to tell Sam and Callen that they can go and see him now.

_Callen and sam_

As they walked into the ICU room, despite what they thought neither of them was prepared for the site that met them. Deeks' torso and head were covered with bandages and the only noise was the gentle whir and hiss of the ventilator that was helping Deeks to breathe.

Sam moved to the chair next to Deeks. He picked up his hand mimicking Kensi. "Deeks I just wanted to say… I'm sorry for everything that I said. You have to get better, Kensi would fall apart and well hell the whole team would fall apart. I mean we all know that you are Hetty's favourite." For a second Callen thought he saw Deeks' face twitch when Sam said that but dismissed it as a trick of the eye. When Sam moved away, Callen moved forward, but did not sit down.

"Deeks you have to fight this and get better. You cannot give Paterson the satisfaction of winning. Come back to use so that we can nail his arse." Callen smiled a little before patting Deeks' hand and stepping back.

"Come on Sam lets go. I want to talk to the doctor about letting one of us stay here at all times until Paterson has been caught" They headed towards the nurses' station and spotted Dr Williams talking to some of the nurses.

"Hey doc can we talk to you a second" Sam called out.

Dr Williams turned around and walked towards them "what can I do for you?" he asked

"That man in there needs to be under round the clock protection. One of us needs to stay at all times."

Dr Williams nodded "Ok one of you can stay as long as you stay out of the nurse's way when they need to do something"

Sam and Callen nodded. "Let's go and tell Kensi that she can stay and then we can get back to finding Paterson".

**End of chapter. How did you like it? Sorry again for the wait and remember reviews are great. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the wait but you know school (blugh)**

**Disclaimer: none, I own nothing.**

**This is un-beta'd so any mistakes are my own. **

**ENJOY**

**Chapter 7**

_Paterson swore softly when he saw the SWAT teams moving in. This was not part of the plan, someone must have squealed and when he found out who they were they would pay. Knowing that he would have to wait in order to find where that imposter Deeks was going, he settled back to wait for the nearing ambulance to arrive and then obviously take Deeks away. Paterson would not allow Deeks to walk away from this. He would not allow Deeks to take his rightful place as Kensi's partner and there was no way that he would allow himself to be caught and sent away._

_Yes, he would bide his time and when the time was right he would kill Deeks. He would wait until they thought he had given up. Lull them into a false sense of security and then kill him. He walked away from the farm house and back towards where he had hidden his car. Quickly driving to the end of the concealed driveway, he waited for the ambulance to leave._

…_xoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxox…_

Four days after Deeks had been found he still had shown no sign of waking up. The swelling had not reduced very much but his other wounds had started to heal up. The ventilator had been removed a few days ago because the doctor thought that Deeks was breathing well enough without it and the punctured lung was mending nicely and it should be no problem. Doctor Williams was not worried about Deeks not waking up, saying it was normal when the brain had suffered a trauma like this. They just have to give him time to heal on his own Kensi had not left since Deeks had been admitted to the hospital. Also to Callen's despair there had been no sign of Paterson. Despite Eric and Nell constantly searching for him they had come up blank at everything they tried. As Callen walked towards Deeks room with Sam by his side, he started to wonder just how far Paterson would go in order to kill Deeks. Once they reach Deeks' room the first thing they see is that Hetty is sat in the chair next to Deeks' bed instead of Kensi.

"Morning Hetty, I see you finally got Kensi to go home then?"

"Good morning to you to Mr Hanna, Mr Callen and yes I sent Ms Blye home to get some much needed rest"

Sam looked at Deeks. He was still unmoving and he had a bit more colour than yesterday. His bread had been shaved off making him look like a little boy but what ruined the image were the bandages around his head and chest and also the bruises standing out in stark contrast to the pale white bandages and pale skin.

"Has there been any change with his condition?"

Hetty let out one of her smiles that you were never quite sure if they meant good news or bad news. Bracing themselves for more bad news on the detective's conditions, Sam and Callen waited for the answer with bated breath.

"The doctor came by earlier to take Mr Deeks for another CT scan to check on the swelling but he has not returned with the results yet. As ever we must wait and see what the future brings us but remember Mr Deeks is stronger than you give him credit for" Hetty finished by looking pointedly at Sam on her last point.

"What you mean is that Deeks is strong in his own way then, because I'm not seeing a lot of muscle on him Hetty" Sam replied jokingly.

Callen joined in "Well he has to be strong Sam otherwise how would he put up with Kensi all day every day especially on the days that there are no Twinkies in her secret stash because she has eaten them all. I think she's getting close to where Eric and Nell hide their Oreos though. Could you imagine what would happen if she ate those"

"I don't want to think about what they could do. Eric would erase any knowledge that you were every alive and Nell is like a mini you, Hetty."

"Ms Jones is a remarkable young woman. She and Mr Beale make a brilliant team but they do have the bad habit of eating those Oreos when they think that I don't know. They should know by now that I always have my methods."

"I wonder if you looked at the finances for the whole team, who would spend the most on chocolate and sweets" Sam actually looked like he was considering doing this when Callen mentioned it.

"You know" Hetty chuckled "I remember when I was talking to a Dr Grissom one time; he mentioned that during his time as a CSI he had a case where a man literally died from chocolate. Apparently this man ate chocolate everyday for many years and because of the lead petrol used in areas where the coco bean is grown, the lead got onto the beans and when made into chocolate still contained lead. So the actual cause of death was lead poisoning but it still counts as death by chocolate."

"Maybe someone should tell kensi that before that happens to her" a voice croaked out from the bed. The room's occupants turned their attention to the bed. Deeks still had his eyes closed but a smile on his face.

"Mr Callen would you be so kind to go and fetch a doctor" Callen disappeared from the room to do just that, but with an added bounce to his step. Since Deeks was awake that meant his chances of survival and regaining his sight would be much higher.

Sam moved over to the bed and picked up the cup of ice chips that the nurses had left there. "Hey Deeks, how are you feeling?"

Deeks shifted, trying to sit up in the bed. Sam stopped him and pushed him back down again with one hand. "You should stay down, it's better for your body. Plus it would be good if you could open our eyes so we can see those baby blues of yours. If you do then you can get some ice ships"

Deeks smile widened "Can't I just get the ice chips and skip opening my eyes" he left his mouth slightly open ready for the ice chips. Sam relented and scoped a few into Deeks' mouth.

"Now that you have your ice chips Mr Deeks, you should open your eyes." When he did not comply and the smile slipped from his face, Hetty tried again "Mr Deeks I know you are worried but for you to regain your sight we need to know what has been damaged"

"Come on Deeks we know that you can do it" Sam added his encouragement.

"If I do will you let me sleep again?" The smile had returned and the detective yawned.

"Even if we say no you still will, won't you" Sam asked, smiling fully for the first time in weeks.

"Of course" With a sigh Sam could see that Deeks was starting to open his eyes. Once they were pushed open, they gazed blankly around not fixing on anything and then they moved to Sam.

"Hey big guy did ya miss me?"

"The opposite actually, it has been very quiet without you around. How much can you see Deeks, because I think the only reason that you are looking over here is because you can hear my voice."

"Well you caught me. I can't see much, just well nothing except black and greyish shapes"

Before anymore could be said the doctor came in the room followed by Callen, who was still smiling and his smile got bigger when he saw the smiles on Hetty's, Sam's and Deeks' faces. Sam was even laughing. "Well well well Mr Deeks, it's good to see you awake"

Callen noted the confusion on Deeks' face and made the introductions."Deeks this is Dr Williams, he's been in charge of looking after you and dealing with a sleep deprived Kensi"

"Which is something, that I do not wish to deal with ever again. My nurses had the idea of waking her up by waving a Twinkie In her face and then running."

"She was that bad huh?" It was hard for Callen to think that Deeks had been kidnapped. He was acting so normal and it was almost like he was never gone. Maybe that was his way of dealing with it and if so then they were going to need a very long talk about it being okay to share feelings after an event like being kidnapped by a lunatic.

"She almost took Nurse Amy's eye out" Sam and the doctor laughed as they were the ones present when that particular event happened. "Now Mr Deeks enough of the pleasantries, I'm afraid that we now have to do the examination. Do you want your team members to leave or stay?"

Deeks chewed on his lip. His eyes were closed again and he was weighing up his choices. Let them see what Paterson had done to him and let them offer support or do it alone. "I'd like Hetty to stay, no offence guys but…" he trailed off unable to get the words out to explain why he didn't want them there, but luckily he didn't have to try because they seemed to understand. At least he hoped they knew why.

"Mr Hanna, Mr Callen why don't you call Ms Blye and tell her that Mr Deeks is awake, and then go and see if Mr Beale or Ms Jones has found anything."

They nodded and were about to leave when Deeks spoke up again "Hey will you tell Nell that it wasn't Eric that raided their spare Oreo stash. It was me" Deeks had the guts to look sheepish even with his eyes shut. "I couldn't help it and I will replace them"

Callen laughed and shot Sam a look, seeming to say I told you so, before they both left.

"Now Mr Deeks, let me first start with your eyesight. A blow to your head has caused swelling in your brain and it has put pressure on your optical nerves, causing your blindness. When you first arrived you had surgery to relive that pressure. The swelling had decreased but not by much"

"Does that mean that I won't be able to see again, but what about my job, I kinda need my eyesight, Oh god" Deeks started panicking which caused the heart monitor to start bleeping letting the doctor know that he had to get Deeks to calm down. Before he could start to though, Hetty stepped in and took his hand in hers.

"Now you listen here Mr Deeks and listen well. Firstly you did not let Doctor Williams finish, he was just about to say that the swelling will go down because your chances are better know that you are awake. Secondly even if you did lose your eyesight, do you think that we would just cast you out?"

Deeks' heart rate came back down at hearing that and turned his head towards Hetty and grinned. "Of course not, you'd miss me too much"

Hetty shook her head at the detective and his antics.

Doctor Williams cleared his throat and directed the attention in the room back to himself. "Now if I could continue, Mr Deeks I am hopeful that your sight will return but to see how far away that could be I need to test your eyesight." Doctor Williams shone a light in Deeks' eyes and tested reactions and if and or what colours he could see.

"Well your pupils are reacting to the light which makes me think that you can see something. What exactly can you see?"

"It's mainly dark but with patches of lighter grey which I'm guessing was your light and darker shapes which I think are you and Hetty but apart from that there is nothing"

Despite learning this Doctors Williams did not look worried. "That is very good news Mr Deeks."

The rest of the examination went by without any problems. The stab wounds were healing well, the broken ribs are doing well and the punctured lung was not a problem. All was well Hetty thought.

"You should rest now Mr Deeks. Get your strength back for when your partner arrives." With a smile the doctor left the room after telling them to call for anything.

"Sleep now Mr Deeks, Ms Blye will be here when you wake"

Almost ashamed, Deeks turned to Hetty "I don't think I can sleep."

"You are worried about reliving the last few weeks. I do not blame you. Even I admittedly still find what we do each day hard. I am haunted by some of the choices I have made in the past and when sleeping these fears come alive and haunt you. You need to be willing to talk about what has happened. But for now you are safe and if Paterson dares to show his face here when I am around, I will personally see to him. I will also arrange for someone to bring you a gun"

"Thank you Hetty. That means a lot." Deeks snuggled back in the bed and fell asleep quickly.

Hetty smiled at the sleeping face of the Detective. He looked so much younger than he did when awake and that caused something to stir within her heart. A warm, calming sensation settled over her from just watching someone sleep. It was welcome to her.

...…xoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxox…..

_With Eric and Nell back in ops_

"Sam and Callen are on their way back" Eric told Nell as he walked back in to the control room. He frowned slightly at Nell still furiously typing at her computer. "You should take a break Nell or you will over work your brain."

Nell sighed but took his advice and twirled her chair around so she could face Eric. "How can he hide himself so well? Do you think that he'll try to kill Deeks again?"

Eric flopped down in his chair and turned to face Nell "He's a master criminal, he's had plenty of time to perfect his methods of hiding. As for your second question I don't know. When he was on the team he had a very quick temper. Sam and Callen used to joke that they could always count on him to intimidate people into confessing. He was a good agent though, despite his flaws and he and Kensi worked well together"

Nell shook her head "I don't understand how people can do that. Betray the people that they trust the very most."

"Well let's hope that you never do, no one would ever be able to find you." Catching the look on Nell's face he tried to backtrack and save the situation "I didn't mean that you would ever… I meant that... well erm your training would make you harder to find" luckily one of the monitors went off, saving Eric from more humiliation in front of his partner.

"We've got a hit on one of the finger prints found in the barn. They belong to Santiago luzimon" Nell pulled his details up on the screen. A photo of a 30 year old man, with a scruffy beard and cold blue eyes appeared on the screen. "He's done time for aggravated assault and theft. Also he was never convicted but DC police believe that he was involved with a bank robbery that Paterson and his cousin carried out."

"Well the two of them knew each other then. I'm going to start a kaleidoscope search for him." Eric turned back to his computer while Nell called Callen and Sam to let them know that they had a lead.

…..xoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxoxox…

_Sam and Callen- driving back to ops._

They were both quiet in the car as they headed back to see if Eric or Nell had been able to find anything on Paterson or the people he was working with. Both of them were thinking about Deeks not wanting them to stay at the hospital and the way he was acting normal

"You know, was it just me or was Deeks acting a bit to normal" Callen spoke up on the thing that he had been wondering about the most "He was acting like nothing had happened, like he was just in for a minor concussion, not treatment for wounds caused by being kidnapped for one month by a sociopath."

Sam considered this "Maybe that's his way of dealing with things. I mean the rest of us can take our anger out in the gym but Deeks is stuck in hospital. It will be ages until he can come back to work or go surfing. Maybe by acting like it never happened, it makes it easier"

"You have been spending too much time listening to Nate." But it made sense to Callen. He was just worried about what would happen to Deeks if he could not keep up the pretence anymore.

"Maybe I have, but maybe that's a good thing"

Before Callen could replay his phone rang. He flipped it open and put it on speaker.

"Yeah Nell"

"We've got a hit on one of the finger prints from the barn where Deeks was found. His name is Santiago luzimon. He was involved in a bank robbery with Paterson and his cousin. We also got a hit on kaleidoscope and he is currently at seaman's café in Venice."

"Okay thanks Nell, good work. Oh and any sign of Paterson?"

"Nope not yet but we'll keep looking" With that Callen cancelled the call and grabbed hold of the door handle when Sam made a U turn. After making sure that they would not crash, he pulled his gun out and inserted a new magazine.

"What do you bet that Luzimon will try to run?" Sam queried

"That's not fair because they always run but loser gets lunch for the team for a week" Callen knew that he would be the one to get the food for him and Sam but he made sure that he worded what he said carefully so that he could trick Sam. It would only be him and Sam anyway because Kensi would stay with Deeks meaning that she would eat hospital food. Callen let out a shudder at the thought of it. The only good part is the jell-o that they always seem to have.

"I wonder why that is" he wondered out loud.

Sam glanced over, causing Callen to grip the door handle as the car swerved. Sam let out a chuckle and turned his attention back to the road. "Why what is G?"

"Why hospitals have so much Jell-o. I saw inside their kitchen store room once and it was filled with Jell-o."

Callen actually seemed puzzled by this making Sam laugh more "It's because G, after some surgery the doc's don't want you eating hard food or the patient cannot eat hard foods so they give them Jell-o which is nice and soft"

"But there must be other soft food that they could have?" Callen persisted

"Take it up with doctor Williams when we next see him. We're here G" That put an end to the banter as both men grabbed their guns and got out of the car.

The take down, as they go, was easy and over quickly. As Sam predicted Luzimon ran, right into Callen where he was waiting down the street. Walking back to a smug looking Sam, Callen sighed and stuffed Luzimon into the back of the car.

"Okay you win. I knew you would, which is why you are getting food from the OSP kitchen." Callen gave Sam a big grin, savoring the look of displeasure, before getting in the car. "What I never said buy the food. I said loser would get the food"

….xoxoxoxoxoxoxo…..

_Hospital- Deeks and Kensi_

When Kensi arrived back at the hospital after being forced home to get sleep and rest by Hetty, she immediately noticed a difference. She walked quicker eager to get to Deeks now. When she got there she saw that he was still unconscious and Hetty was still sitting with him.

"Good morning Hetty. Has there been any change?" she said as she walked round to the over chair in Deeks' room and sat down.

Hetty gave her a smile "Quite a big one I would say Ms Blye. Mr Deeks woke up a few hours ago"

Kensi smiled her first real smile for weeks. "That's great. What did the doctor say?"

"Doctor Williams feels confident that he will make a good recovery. The only concern is his eyesight. The pressure has only decreased a little bit and the doctor is worried that if it does not decrease soon the damage to his optical nerves could be permanent" Hetty paused "Mr Deeks does not know this yet. I thought it would be better for you to break the news to him."

"Deeks could be blind?" Kensi felt her new felt happiness fade away. She turned her gaze to Hetty who seemed to be thinking. "Hetty is there more?"

"The swelling could still go down but more surgery could be likely we just have to wait. Now if you will excuse me I have a meeting to attend to."

Kensi nodded goodbye and took Deeks' hand in hers. "Alright Deeks, you will be fine or you will have me to answer to"

"If that's so then I might as well go back to sleep" Deeks mumbled sleepily.

"Deeks you're awake"

"Nope I'm sleep talking I tend to do that" he replied a smile forming on his face. "Help he sit up will you?"

Kensi leaned forward and helped get Deeks settled. "How are you Deeks, do you want me to get a nurse?" She turned to do so but Deeks waved a hand vaguely near her so she stopped. "Well how are you?"

"I feel like one big bruise, I can't see and when I fall asleep people discuss my condition like I cannot hear them"

"So you heard about your eyesight"

"Yeah, I'm a light sleeper but I will get it back. I need it back"

"You will" kensi began but she was cut off by Deeks "you don't understand the light can always offer support and can help with the memories but in darkness all I can see is his face Kensi and I can't…" He trailed off and kensi could feel him trembling.

"Hey I'm here and I'm not leaving. He cannot get you because I will personally kick his arse"

That brought a smile to his face again "Hetty said something very similar to that." Deeks opened his eyes and let out a gasp.

"What is it Deeks? Are you okay?"

"No well yes. I can see you. It's like a faint outline but better than earlier when Sam and Callen were here"

"That's brilliant what did I tell you. Now I need sugar, do you want some jell-o?"

"Sure as long as you don't eat it"

Kensi chuckled and went to stand up when she changed her mind "Why don't I get a nurse to grab some and I can stay here"

"I'd like that thank you Kensi" he leaned over and pushed the call button. When the nurse came Kensi placed their order. She turned back to Deeks freshly happy. Now they just had to find Paterson and deal with him. During that Kensi would make sure that Deeks knew that she was there at all times so that he knew that he was not alone until his sight came back. Once Paterson was dead or behind bars, although Kensi preferred the former to the latter, they could put this behind them and carry on as normal. Well as normal as they can get in their line of work.

…..….….xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo…

_Boatshed_

Sam watched Callen interrogate Luzimon through the monitor. They were getting nowhere. All they had managed to learn was that Luzimon wanted a lawyer, which was something that they all said and that Luzimon had not touched Deeks. Or so he said and Callen never did trust people easily.

"For the last time where is Paterson, before I have to get my partner in here" Sam stood up ready to go and help if Callen gave him the signal.

"And for the last time I don't know where he is" Luzimon replied looking thoroughly bored with what was going on.

"Look we can do this easy or hard. We now that you were waiting for Paterson so where is he." This caused Luzimon to shift slightly and Callen knew that he was on to something. "Are you going to tell me?"

Luzimon shifted again. "What do I get if I tell you?" Callen raised an eyebrow "you can have protection from a team member who would very much want to come in here and knock the answer out of you." That was Sam's sign to come in. He moved over to the door and slammed it open with all his strength.

The door, having been opened with such force, rebounded and nearly hit Sam in the face. He avoided the door by stepping back out of the room and having to open it again. But this time he was gentler, this caused Callen to smirk and snigger slightly. Sam glared at him and then turned to Luzimon who looked more amused than scared due to the door incident. He looked more scared however when Sam pulled him from his seat and slammed him against the wall.

"Hey hey you can't do this" Luzimon cried out

"I can and I will. Now tell me where Paterson is" Sam growled trying to make himself sound as threatening as possible but from the slight snicker coming from Callen, he doubted it was working very well and changed back to his normal voice.

"Tell me now" he tried again and released his grip on Luzimon and moved back to stand next to Callen.

"Okay okay, just keep him away from me" Luzimon told Callen.

"We could have done this the easy way but sure" Callen nodded to Sam, who turned and left the room.

"I was meeting Paterson to give him a car. He thought the one he had was too noticeable so we traded. Not that I minded, the car he had was brilliant. An old hot rod but perfect condition… anyway I'd already given him the car when you turned up."

"What's on the number plate?"

With that new information Callen left the room to call Eric and Nell so they could start the search. Sam had already got Eric up on the monitor when Callen got there. Before he started talking to Eric Callen felt that he just had to make a comment. "Great entrance there Sam and I love the grizzly bear voice, you should use it more often." Eric chuckled on screen and Sam gave Callen a look that said you should watch you're back G.

"Eric can you put a search out for this car." Callen turned serious again and rattled off the number and Eric started searching.

"Call us when you've got something. Come on G we need to get to the hospital." Sam said heading towards the door "Eric keep an eye on Luzimon" Eric nodded and the screen went blank.

"There's no point calling Kensi, the hospital has really bad reception." Callen pointed out as he held on for dear life as Sam weaved through the late afternoon traffic.

The phone rang and callen quickly put it on speaker. "Eric what do you have."

"Paterson's car has just turned into the hospital car park."

"Call the hospital, let Kensi know and some traffic assistance would be appreciated as well Eric"

It was Nell that answered this time. "Done, you're going to get all green lights"

"Thanks Nell" Callen cancelled the call and prayed that Eric would get through to Kensi and that her and Deeks would get through this unscathed. The car hurtled down the streets hitting green light after green light, heading to their two team members sides.

**Well that was long. I hope it made up for the long time since the last update.**

**I added a cameo of another show in there when Hetty talked about Grissom. I was watching that episode while writing this and it just seemed fitting. Hopefully I can update soon.**

**Reviews are very much welcome.**


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